Fire drill at Joanina Library tested emergency response capacity for historic sites

HeritEx24 simulated a fire on the main floor of one of the world’s most beautiful libraries. The goal was to test the Joanina Library’s self-protection measures and to evaluate both the Special Civil Protection Emergency Plan for the Old City Centre and the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan for Coimbra.

The exercise involved 56 personnel and 18 vehicles from the Coimbra Sapper Fire Brigade, the Coimbra and Brasfemes Volunteer Fire Brigades, the Portuguese Red Cross, the Public Security Police, and the Municipal Police, as well as around 176 trainees from the 1st Course on Emergency Intervention in Historical Heritage. This course was organised by Coimbra City Council through the Municipal Civil Protection Service, in collaboration with the University of Coimbra.

During the one-hour exercise, firefighting teams contained the flames, rescued a victim, and recovered various at-risk items from the library.

In conclusion, the exercise, which marked the end of three days of training organised by Fundação Fuego and promoted by the Coimbra Municipal Civil Protection Service in collaboration with the University of Coimbra (UC), was highly successful, demonstrating strong coordination and commitment from all involved.

UC Rector Amílcar Falcão stated, "Our assets are invaluable, and we take the utmost care. We have a risk management plan that we continuously review and update, and this training comes at just the right time. This exercise is essential for safeguarding our heritage, which is fundamentally our history and speaks volumes about our country," he added during the closing session of the training course held in the Rectory Auditorium.

Alfredo Dias, UC Vice-Rector for Heritage, Buildings, and Tourism, noted, "There are no perfect simulations or drills, but this exercise went well and provided us with valuable information for continuous improvement. We tested what is probably the most sensitive area at the University, which was very positive overall, and the response was good."

"This is unprecedented in Coimbra. There’s no record of a similar operation focused on fire safety and heritage. With these characteristics and this level of operational readiness, it truly stands out as unique," said Carlos Matias Lopes, Civil Protection Councillor for the Municipality of Coimbra, who considered the results "extremely positive." He added, "We successfully combined the efforts of the Civil Protection and Fire Brigades with a team tasked with safeguarding the works and books removed from the Joanina Library. This operation had two remarkable aspects: the firefighting response and the preservation of a valuable material asset. Everything went smoothly, and everything was saved," concluded Carlos Matias Lopes.